BOOK VII.
1 MAN, HIS BIRTH, HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS.
CHAP. 1.—MAN.
SUCH then is the present state of the world, and of the countries, nations, more remarkable seas, islands, and cities which it
contains.
2 The nature of the animated beings which exist
upon it, is hardly in any degree less worthy of our contemplation than its other features; if, indeed, the human mind
is able to embrace the whole of so diversified a subject. Our
first attention is justly due to Man, for whose sake all other
things appear to have been produced by Nature; though, on
the other hand, with so great and so severe penalties for the
enjoyment of her bounteous gifts, that it is far from easy to
determine, whether she has proved to him a kind parent, or a
merciless step-mother.
In the first place, she obliges him alone, of all animated
beings, to clothe himself with the spoils of the others; while, to
all the rest, she has given various kinds of coverings, such as
shells, crusts, spines, hides, furs, bristles, hair, down, feathers,
scales, and fleeces.
3 The very trunks of the trees even, she has
protected against the effects of heat and cold by a bark, which
is, in some cases, twofold.
4 Man alone, at the very moment of
his birth cast naked upon the laked earth,
5 does she abandon
to cries, to lamentations, and, a thing that is the case with no
other animal whatever, to tears: this, too, from the very moment that he enters upon existence.
6 But as for laughter,
why, by Hercules!—to laugh, if but for an instant only, has
never been granted to man before the fortieth day
7 from his
birth, and then it is looked upon as a miracle of precocity.
Introduced thus to the light, man has fetters and swathings
instantly put upon all his limbs,
8 a thing that falls to the lot
of none of the brutes even that are born among us. Born to
such singular good fortune,
9 there lies the animal, which is
destined to command all the others, lies, fast bound hand and
foot, and weeping aloud! such being the penalty which he
has to pay on beginning life, and that for the sole fault of
having been born. Alas! for the folly of those who can think
after such a beginning as this, that they have been born for the
display of vanity!
The earliest presage of future strength, the earliest bounty
of time, confers upon him nought but the resemblance to a
quadruped.
10 How soon does man gain the power of walking?
How soon does he gain the faculty of speech? How soon is his
mouth fitted for mastication? How long are the pulsations of
the crown of his head to proclaim him the weakest of all ani-
mated beings?
11 And then, the diseases to which he is subject,
the numerous remedies which he is obliged to devise against
his maladies, and those thwarted every now and then by new
forms and features of disease.
12 While other animals have
an instinctive knowledge of their natural powers; some, of
their swiftness of pace, some of their rapidity of flight, and
some again of their power of swimming; man is the only one
that knows nothing, that can learn nothing without being
taught; he can neither speak, nor walk, nor eat,
13 and, in
short, he can do nothing, at the prompting of nature only, but
weep. For this it is, that many have been of opinion, that it
were better not to have been born, or if born, to have been annihilated
14 at the earliest possible moment.
To man alone, of all animated beings, has it been given, to
grieve,
15 to him alone to be guilty of luxury and excess; and
that in modes innumerable, and in every part of his body.
Man is the only being that is a prey to ambition, to avarice, to
an immoderate desire of life,
16 to superstition,
17—he is the only
one that troubles himself about his burial, and even what is to
become of him after death.
18 By none is life held on a tenure
more frail;
19 none are more influenced by unbridled desires for
all things; none are sensible of fears more bewildering; none
are actuated by rage more frantic and violent. Other animals,
in fine, live at peace with those of their own kind; we only
see them unite to make a stand against those of a different
species. The fierceness of the lion is not expended in fighting with its own kind; the sting of the serpent is not aimed
at the serpent;
20 and the monsters of the sea even, and the
fishes, vent their rage only on those of a different species. But
with man,—by Hercules! most of
his misfortunes are occasioned
by man.
21
(1.) We have already given
22 a general description of the
human race in our account of the different nations. Nor, indeed, do I now propose to treat of their manners and customs,
which are of infinite variety and almost as numerous as the various
groups themselves, into which mankind is divided; but yet
there are some things, which, I think, ought not to be omitted;
and more particularly, in relation to those peoples which dwell
at a considerable distance from the sea;
23 among which, I
have no doubt, that some facts will appear of an astounding
nature, and, indeed, incredible to many. Who, for instance,
could ever believe in the existence of the Æthiopians, who
had not first seen them? Indeed what is there that does not appear marvellous, when it comes to our knowledge for the first
time?
24 How many things, too, are looked upon as quite impossible, until they have been actually effected?
25 But it is
the fact, that every moment of our existence we are distrusting the power and the majesty of Nature, if the mind, instead
of grasping her in her entirety, considers her only in detail.
Not to speak of peacocks, the spotted skins of tigers and panthers, and the rich colours of so many animals, a trifling thing
apparently to speak of, but of inestimable importance, when
we give it due consideration, is the existence of so many languages among the various nations, so many modes of speech,
so great a variety of expressions; that to another, a man who
is of a different country, is almost the same as no man at all.
26
And then, too, the human features and countenance, although
composed of but some ten parts or little more, are so fashioned,
that among so many thousands of men, there are no two in
existence who cannot be distinguished from one another, a
result which no art could possibly have produced, when confined to so limited a number of combinations. In most points,
however, of this nature, I shall not be content to pledge my
own credit only, but shall confirm it in preference by referring
to my authorities, which shall be given on all subjects of a
nature to inspire doubt. My readers, however, must make no
objection to following the Greeks, who have proved them-
selves the most careful observers, as well as of the longest
standing.
27
CHAP. 2.—THE WONDERFUL FORMS OF DIFFERENT NATIONS.
We have already stated, that there are certain tribes of the
Scythians, and, indeed, many other nations, which feed upon
human flesh.
28 This fact itself might, perhaps, appear incredible, did we not recollect, that in the very centre of the
earth, in Italy and Sicily, nations formerly existed with these
monstrous propensities, the Cyclopes,
29 and the Læstrygones, for
example; and that, very recently, on the other side of the Alps,
it was the custom to offer human sacrifices, after the manner
of those nations;
30 and the difference is but small between
sacrificing human beings and eating them.
31
In the vicinity also of those who dwell in the northern re-
gions, and not far from the spot from which the north wind
arises, and the place which is called its cave,
32 and is known
by the name of Geskleithron, the Arimaspi are said to exist,
whom I have previously mentioned,
33 a nation remarkable for
having but one eye, and that placed in the middle of the forehead. This race is said to carry on a perpetual warfare with
the Griffins, a kind of monster, with wings, as they are commonly
34 represented, for the gold which they dig out of the mines,
and which these wild beasts retain and keep watch over with
a singular degree of cupidity, while the Arimaspi are equally
desirous to get possession of it.
35 Many authors have stated to
this effect, among the most illustrious of whom are Herodotus
and Aristeas of Proconnesus.
36
Beyond the other Scythian Anthropophagi, there is a country
called Abarimon, situate in a certain great valley of Mount
Imaus,
37 the inhabitants of which are a savage race, whose
feet are turned backwards,
38 relatively to their legs: they possess wonderful velocity, and wander about indiscriminately
with the wild beasts. We learn from Bæton, whose duty it
was to take the measurements of the routes of Alexander the
Great, that this people cannot breathe in any climate except
their own, for which reason it is impossible to take them before any of the neighbouring kings; nor could any of them
be brought before Alexander himself.
The Anthropophagi, whom we have previously mentioned
39
as dwelling ten days' journey beyond the Borysthenes, according to the account of Isigonus of Nicæa, were in the habit of
drinking out of human skulls,
40 and placing the scalps, with
the hair attached, upon their breasts, like so many napkins.
The same author relates, that there is, in Albania, a certain
race of men, whose eyes are of a sea-green colour, and who
have white hair from their earliest childhood,
41 and that these
people see better in the night than in the day. He states also
that the Sauromatæ, who dwell ten days' journey beyond the
Borysthenes, only take food every other day.
42
Crates of Pergamus relates, that there formerly existed in
the vicinity of Parium, in the Hellespont, a race of men whom
he calls Ophiogenes, and that by their touch they were able to
cure those who had been stung by serpents, extracting the
poison by the mere imposition of the hand.
43 Varro tells us,
that there are still a few individuals in that district, whose
saliva effectually cures the stings of serpents. The same, too,
was the case with the tribe of the Psylli,
44 in Africa, according
to the account of Agatharchides; these people received their
name from Psyllus, one of their kings, whose tomb is in existence, in the district of the Greater Syrtes. In the bodies of
these people there was by nature a certain kind of poison,
which was fatal to serpents, and the odour of which overpowered them with torpor: with them it was a custom to expose children immediately after their birth to the fiercest serpents, and in this manner to make proof of the fidelity of their
wives, the serpents not being repelled by such children as were
the offspring of adultery.
45 This nation, however, was almost
entirely extirpated by the slaughter made of them by the
Nasamones, who now occupy their territory.
46 This race, however, still survives in a few persons who are descendants of
those who either took to flight or else were absent on the oc-
casion of the battle. The Marsi, in Italy, are still in possession
of the same power, for which, it is said, they are indebted
to their origin from the son of Circe, from whom they acquired
it as a natural quality. But the fact is, that all men possess
in their bodies a poison which acts upon serpents, and the
human saliva, it is said, makes them take to flight, as though
they had been touched with boiling water. The same substance, it is said, destroys them the moment it enters their
throat, and more particularly so, if it should happen to be the
saliva of a man who is fasting.
47
Above the Nasamones,
48 and the Machlytæ, who border upon
them, are found, as we learn from Calliphanes, the nation of
the Androgyni, a people who unite the two sexes in the same
individual, and alternately perform the functions of each.
Aristotle also states, that their right breast is that of a male,
the left that of a female.
49
Isigonus and Nymphodorus inform us that there are in
Africa certain families of enchanters,
50 who, by means of their
charms, in the form of commendations, can cause cattle to
perish, trees to wither, and infants to die. Isigonus adds, that
there are among the Triballi and the Illyrii, some persons of
this description, who also have the power of fascination with
the eyes, and can even kill those on whom they fix their gaze
for any length of time, more especially if their look denotes
anger; the age of puberty is said to be particularly obnoxious
to the malign influence of such persons.
51
A still more remarkable circumstance is, the fact that these
persons have two pupils in each eye.
52 Apollonides says, that
there are certain females of this description in Scythia, who
are known as Bythiæ, and Phylarchus states that a tribe of the
Thibii in Pontus, and many other persons as well, have a
double pupil in one eye, and in the other the figure of a horse.
53
He also remarks, that the bodies of these persons will not sink
in water,
54 even though weighed down by their garments.
Damon gives an account of a race of people, not very much
unlike them, the Pharnaces of Æthiopia, whose perspiration
is productive of consumption
55 to the body of every person that
it touches. Cicero also, one of our own writers, makes the remark, that the glances of all women who have a double pupil
is noxious.
56
To this extent, then, has nature, when she produced in man,
in common with the wild beasts, a taste for human flesh,
thought fit to produce poisons as well in every part of his
body, and in the eyes even of some persons, taking care that
there should be no evil influence in existence, which was not
to be found in the human body. Not far from the city of
Rome, in the territory of the Falisci, a few families are found,
who are known by the name of Hirpi. These people perform
a yearly sacrifice to Apollo, on Mount Soracte, on which occasion they walk over a burning pile of wood, without being
scorched even. On this account, by virtue of a decree of the
senate, they are always exempted from military service, and
from all other public duties.
57
Some individuals, again, are born with certain parts of the
body endowed with properties of a marvellous nature. Such
was the case with King Pyrrhus, the great toe of whose right
foot cured diseases of the spleen, merely by touching the patient.
58 We are also informed, that this toe could not be re-
duced to ashes together with the other portions of his body;
upon which it was placed in a coffer, and preserved in a
temple.
India, and the region of Æthiopia more especially, abounds
in wonders.
59 In India the largest of animals are produced;
their dogs,
60 for example, are much bigger than those of any
other country.
61 The trees, too, are said to be of such vast
height, that it is impossible to send an arrow over them. This
is the result of the singular fertility of the soil, the equable
temperature of the atmosphere, and the abundance of water;
which, if we are to believe what is said, are such, that a single
fig-tree
62 is capable of affording shelter to a whole troop of
horse. The reeds here are also of such enormous length, that
each portion of them, between the joints, forms a tube, of
which a boat is made that is capable of holding three men.
63
It is a well-known fact, that many of the people here are more
than five cubits in height.
64 These people never expectorate,
are subject to no pains, either in the head, the teeth, or the
eyes, and rarely in any other parts of the body; so well is the
heat of the sun calculated to strengthen the constitution.
Their philosophers, who are called Gymnosophists, remain in
one posture, with their eyes immovably fixed upon the sun,
from its rising to its setting, and, during the whole of the day,
they are accustomed to stand in the burning sands on one
foot, first one and then the other.
65 According to the ac-
count of Megasthenes, dwelling upon a mountain called Nulo,
there is a race of men who have their feet turned backwards,
66
with eight toes on each foot.
67
On many of the mountains again, there is a tribe of men
who have the heads of dogs,
68 and clothe themselves with
the skins of wild beasts. Instead of speaking, they bark; and,
furnished with claws, they live by hunting and catching birds.
According to the story, as given by Ctesias, the number of these
people is more than a hundred and twenty thousand: and the
same author tells us, that there is a certain race in India, of
which the females are pregnant once only in the course of their
lives, and that the hair of the children becomes white the instant they are born. He speaks also of another race of men,
who are known as Monocoli,
69 who have only one leg, but are
able to leap with surprising agility.
70 The same people are
also called Sciapodæ,:
71 because they are in the habit of lying
on their backs, during the time of the extreme heat, and protect
themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. These
people, he says, dwell not very far from the Troglodytæ;
72 to
the west of whom again there is a tribe who are without
necks, and have eyes in their shoulders.,
73
Among the mountainous districts of the eastern parts of
India, in what is called the country of the Catharcludi, we
find the Satyr,
74 an animal of extraordinary swiftness. These
go sometimes on four feet, and sometimes walk erect; they
have also the features of a human being. On account of their
swiftness, these creatures are never to be caught, except when
they are either aged or sickly. Tauron gives the name of
Choromandæ to a nation which dwell in the woods and have
no proper voice. These people screech in a frightful manner;
their bodies are covered with hair, their eyes are of a sea-green
colour, and their teeth like those of the dog.
75 Eudoxus tells
us, that in the southern parts of India, the men have feet a
cubit in length; while those of the women are so remarkably
small, that they are called Struthopodes.
76
Megasthenes places among the Nomades
77 of India, a people
who are called Scyritæ. These have merely holes in their
faces instead of nostrils, and flexible feet, like the body of
the serpent. At the very extremity of India, on the eastern
side, near the source of the river Ganges, there is the nation
of the Astomi, a people who have no mouths; their bodies
are rough and hairy, and they cover themselves with a down
78
plucked from the leaves of trees. These people subsist only
by breathing and by the odours which they inhale through the
nostrils. They support themselves upon neither meat nor
drink; when they go upon a long journey they only carry with
them various odoriferous roots and flowers, and wild apples,
79
that they may not be without something to smell at. But an
odour, which is a little more powerful than usual, easily destroys them.
80
Beyond these people, and at the very extremity of the mountains, the Trispithami
81 and the Pygmies are said to exist; two
races which are but three spans in height, that is to say, twenty-seven inches only. They enjoy a salubrious atmosphere, and a
perpetual spring, being sheltered by the mountains from the
northern blasts; it is these people that Homer
82 has mentioned
as being waged war upon by cranes. It is said, that they are
in the habit of going down every spring to the sea-shore, in a large
body, seated on the backs of rams and goats, and armed with
arrows, and there destroy the eggs and the young of those
birds; that this expedition occupies them for the space of three
months, and that otherwise it would be impossible for them to
withstand the increasing multitudes of the cranes. Their
cabins, it is said, are built of mud, mixed with feathers and
egg-shells. Aristotle, indeed, says, that they dwell in caves;
but, in all other respects, he gives the same details as other
writers.
83
Isigonus informs us, that the Cyrni, a people of India, live
to their four hundredth year; and he is of opinion that the
same is the case also with the Æthiopian Macrobii,
84 the Seræ,
and the inhabitants of Mount Athos.
85 In the case of these
last, it is supposed to be owing to the flesh of vipers, which
they use as food;
86 in consequence of which, they are free also
from all noxious animals, both in their hair and their garments.
According to Onesicritus, in those parts of India where there
is no shadow,
87 the bodies of men attain a height of five cubits
and two palms,
BOOK VII.
MAN, HIS BIRTH, HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS.
BOOK X. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS.
